Wednesday, 24 June 2009

The next Day of Culturewill consist of a visit to Brightonto explore a number of themesrelated to the Social and Cultural Research Group.

We will meet at the The Royal Pavilion Gardensand visit the Brighton Museumto consider issues such as:health, housing, religioncivic pride, sport and other social activitiesthrough a range of objects and printed ephemera.

The exhibition will help contextualisethe second activity of the dayraising questions that we might like to contemplateas we move beyond the museum space.

Next we will visitthe historic ‘Lanes’ area of Brightonwhich has a vibrant café cultureand is characterised bysecond-hand and antique emporiumsas well as flea marketsmaking it an ideal place to pauseand consider a number of themesincluding consumption,the histories of objectsand material culture.

Finally, we will visit the Pier, promenade and beachto consider the role of tourismin the creation of Brighton, past and present.

You may wish to read the followingas an introduction to some of the themesthat might arise during the day:

Shields R (1991)‘Ritual pleasures of a seaside resortliminality, carnivalesque and dirty weekends’from Places on the Margin: Routledge: London

Miller D (1998)Theory of ShoppingPolity Press: Cambridge

*****

MrsM admits to adding the illustrations.

Needless to say, MrsM must remain in the officeto ensure that the administrative wheelsof the Department run smoothly...

with thanks to my colleagues...for their energy, enthusiasmand laughter.

Question :What is a Geographer?Answer :This question has not yet been answered.

(from WikiAnswers - October 09)

"...mere names of places...are not geography...to know by heart a whole gazetteer full of them would not, in itself, constitute anyone a geographer. Geography has higher aims than this: it seeks to classify phenomena (alike of the natural and of the political world, in so far as it treats of the latter), to compare, to generalize, to ascend from effects to causes, and, in doing so, to trace out the great laws of nature and to mark their influences upon man. This is 'a description of the world'—that is Geography. In a word Geography is a Science—a thing not of mere names but of argument and reason, of cause and effect."

William Hughes (1863)

"...the Department has a clear strength in fostering an environment of mutual respect between staff and students in which teaching and learning can flourish."

Periodic Review (March 2007)

"A careful, pedestrian writer, he is interested not only in the grandiose or the exquisite but in unusual sights and obscure ritual. He is occasionally careless, or makes unwarranted inferences, and his guides or even his own notes sometimes mislead him; yet his honesty is unquestionable, and his value without par."

I have edited the posts to remove references that only make sense in the original context and I decided not to import the comments associated with each post. Please click on the link at the bottom of each post if you want to read the comments.